Curiosity
by rainbowrider1290
Summary: Team Voltron receives a distress call from a planet that is supposed to be uninhabited.


**A/N: Hi again! to be completely honest, my saxy friend and I came up with yet another idea that I had to make a fic out of. I'm so glad you thought the summary was interesting enough to give it a click!**

 **Disclaimer: The Curiosity Rover is property of NASA and Voltron: Legendary Defender belongs to Dreamworks.**

* * *

Say what you will about Princess Allura's pride, prejudice, and inability to handle children, but never question her leadership, determination, and above all, intelligence. Prior to the fall of Altea, she had studied extensively outside of her private classes about the species, planets, and constellations of most of the known universe. She could navigate her way from Arus to where Altea _would've_ been without the castle's help by using the stars around her and a half-pod. She could turn into most species of the known universe imitating even some of their internal biological structures.

So why was she confused about this particular planet?

It was supposed to be uninhabited according to her knowledge. She knew its name, inner workings, and even its least known characteristics, but after a scan, the word "uninhabited" remained flashing on the screen.

"Coran, can you take a look at this?" she asked her advisor. The red-haired Altean looked up from his own screen.

"Sure thing, Princess. What's happened?"

"This planet is supposed to be uninhabited, at least in the last ten thousand years, and even after a detailed scan, it's still supposed to be empty." She finished with a slight frown. Coran smiled.

 _She never did like the act of not understanding_ , he mused.

"Well, maybe it's been colonized by a cloaking people. I've met a few of those and they're tricky when they don't want to be found." He twisted his mustache between his fingers.

"That's what's strange about it. I've checked the records of what's happened since we've been asleep and there's nothing on the colonization of this planet." She replied, typing out more searches regarding the planet in front of them.

"Hmm. Interesting concept. It's definitely worth looking into." He says, his expression mirroring the confuzzlement in Allura's face. With that, he saunters back to his screen and accesses the speakers to the castle. "Paladins, could you come down to the bridge, please?" And after a small wait, voices started to be heard.

"- re's no way that at least 70 percent of the planet doesn't believe in extraterrestrial life by now." Pidge's voice could be heard approaching.

"Some people don't even believe in _climate change._ You think they'll be concerned with what's currently deemed 'science fiction'?" Keith's voice.

"People believe in Bigfoot."

"He's out there!" Keith argues fiercely. Shiro clears his throat, and with that, they were silent.

"What do you need, Princess?" said Paladin asks.

"We've… Received a distress call from a planet that's supposed to be completely uninhabited by organic life." Allura explains.

"But how is that possible?" Pidge questions.

"We don't know. Coran has a theory that it's a population that can cloak themselves, but there's been no record of any sort regarding this planet. We thought it was worth looking into" Her confusion morphs into a slight worry.

"Alright team, you heard the Princess. Get to your stations." Shiro responds after only a moment of pondering.

"Oooh, a mystery planet. This is gonna be fun," pipes Lance from his seat with a sly brow.

"No! Not fun, more like terrifying. Who knows what's on this planet? Maybe the Galra? Aw man, I bet they're just waiting to ambush us, and we don't even know where we're headed." Hunk rebuts.

"Wait, you're right. Allura, where _are_ we headed?" Lance asks.

Allura hesitates, "We're headed for a planet called Rouge by most of the universe, but commonly known to you as…" She types in some coordinates and stands back to reveal the image of the red planet with a bright blue dot flashing from its surface. "Mars."

The image is much clearer than anything they have back on Earth. Even the piles of red sand and rock are visible in the three-dimensional image that never ceases to amaze them. The sun, _their_ sun's light is visible from an angle of the projection, making it look brighter. Not that the five people struggling to remain seated need anything to make it look brighter. They were awestruck at the fact that they were _going back to their solar system!_

What a wormhole jump that was. It was partially fueled by the paladins' excitement and anticipation, itching to just jump up and run to their lions. Even Shiro, the calm, cool, and collected leader was as giddy as a little boy waking up on Christmas morning.

Once they were reaching the planet, Allura faces them with a somber face. "I understand that being so close to your planet must be hard, but we must remain focused and sharp because this _is_ a mission coming from a distress call that we must take seriously." All five nod gently in understanding, trying quite hard not to dwell too much on the fact that they couldn't visit their planet when it was _right. There._

That, however, doesn't stop them from racing to their lions like little kids released to the playground as the castle-ship breaks through Mars' atmosphere.

Once off the ship and in their lions, they split up, activating their comms to report anything from their separate scans.

"Anything so far?" Shiro's voice rings through each Paladin's helmet.

"Nope." says Lance

"Sand." Keith observes.

"Holes from past exploration missions." pipes Pidge.

"Not ye- Wait! Guys, I think I know why Allura was confused over the fact that Mars is uninhabited." comes Hunk's voice across the comms and instantly, they hone in on his location.

"Alright, what've you got?" comes Shiro's voice.

"Alright - Okay… So you guys know that since Mars has been open to exploration, they've kept the Curiosity Rover just to investigate between missions, right?"

"Yeah…" Lance replies.

"Well, I think I know where the distress signal's coming from." He finishes with a slight tone of caution.

* * *

"The Curiosity Rover? You can't be serious." Keith says.

"Said the professional conspiracy theorist?" rebuts Lance.

Then Pidge stops clacking at her keyboard with a quizzical expression. "No. Guys, Hunk's right. The readings I'm getting on here aren't customary for a robot. _Especially_ not one from Earth, but this is definitely where the signal's coming from."

"What'd you find?" Shiro asks as Hunk peers over her shoulder.

"What did I find? _What_ did _I_ find? Oh no, no, no." She pauses with an excited smirk to adjust her glasses. "The question to ask… Is _who_ found _us._ " And with that, the entire team's expressions change to a curious mix of fanboy, pleasant surprise, wide eyes, and the most terrific look of confuzzlement to reach the Galaxy. Guess who wears each expression.

"... You mean…" Lance breaks the silence.

"Yep."

"Curiosity is _alive_?" Hunk looks like he's simultaneously found the answers to the universe and his brain recently exploded.

Pidge isn't doing much better, what with the impending fangirl attack that was about to happen. "Yep."

So, two fan attacks, three mental explosions, and a dad command later, the Castle of Lions is parked right on Mars, and Curiosity is aboard it with a bunch of wires connecting it to Pidge's computer. Though it is uncharacteristically curled in on itself.

It takes ten days, various meltdowns, and fifteen cups of amped-up nunvill as Pidge, Hunk, and Coran (because no, he's not just the flipping Royal Advisor, show the Coranic some respect) take turns trying to get through what seems like an infinite number of different firewalls, not all belonging to NASA, surprisingly, to finally get Curiosity to open up in any way.

Looking back, the first and second days weren't too bad. They were simply getting to know the system and equipment, as well as getting over the fact that Curiosity was a _living being._ Pidge was having an absolute field day. Coran came in to help, and Hunk and Pidge decided to show this man with the most gorgeous brain and intellect some more respect after asking him to "teach them his ways".

Day three was when they got Curiosity to start screaming. An absolute shrieking alarm that could be heard through the walls of the Castle accompanied by the curled up ball of metal to, were it not for the strong wires and Coran's speed, start attempts at attacking the three in the hangar at that moment while the computer went haywire with long strings of code. So, quick as they could, they got back to work only after being brought something to cover their ringing ears.

Days four through eight were all routine. Go get some more nunvill, code, tinker with the machinery, and a whole bunch of " _yes, you still need to eat and sleep"_ from the other paladins and Allura, who took turns making sure that they didn't starve or pass out from exhaustion. Their patience - and sanity - was beginning to wear.

On the ninth day, it was Pidge's turn to try solving the enigma while Hunk slept and Coran attended to his other duties around the castle. She was so used to muttering under her breath that she barely noticed that the strings of incomprehensible coding were coming in a pattern. They were coming in varying lengths anytime she finished muttering. It was waiting for her to finish talking.

After Hunk had finished recovering from the heart attack Pidge gave him from sheer excitement, he too was running towards the Green Lion's hangar.

On the tenth day, the entire populace of the Castle of Lions is exhausted (because family means everyone suffers), slightly on edge, and ready for this code to be cracked, but present for Curiosity's first words, which appear through the code translating device that Pidge, Hunk, and Coran had been able to put together:

" _Are you going to hurt me?"_

Shiro's the first to speak up, mainly because _talking robot that everyone assumed couldn't feel pain was freaking everyone out._

"Uh.. No, we're not going to hurt you. We're the paladins of Voltron." With that, Curiosity uncurls from its ball of metal to its full length, measuring about the size of a small car.

" _Where am I?_ " the translator reads.

"You're in the Castle of Lions." Allura states simply. One of Curiosity's cameras turns towards the new voice, inputting more code into the translator.

" _You got my signal._ "

"And… We still don't know why. Can you tell us, please?" Hunk asks with caution as though he were talking to a three year-old.

" _It was the last thing I could do before the virus took over."_

"The virus? What happened to you?" Pidge asks with empathy for the machine. There is a pause before the translator receives more code.

" _It happened just before my humans left the Red Planet. My humans had gone back to the base for the sol and left me to take some more samples. When the attackers came, they plugged something into my system. It was like they wanted to make me into a weapon, or shut me down. It was extremely uncomfortable and rude."_

"A weapon?" Keith finds his voice.

" _I don't know what they wanted. Though they tried to take me on their ship before one of my humans, what a lovely one she is, came back and saw them. They dropped me and ran. Again, rude."_

"Pirates." comes Allura's venomous voice. "Did you get a good look at them?"

" _Unfortunately not. They were wearing masks and armor that covered their entire bodies."_

"If you were under the influence of a virus, how did you know to send the distress call?"

" _My humans back on Earth programmed me to sing a song to myself every year. With all the upgrades my humans had made to me since I started existing, I was able to turn the yearly song into a yearly call for help."_

"Well, you're welcome to stay on this ship for as long as you need." chimes Allura with a sympathetic smile.

* * *

It's Pidge's turn to bombard Curiosity with question after question, the robot patiently answering them. In the meantime, Shiro assembles the rest of the team while the robot is busy.

"Are we sure we can trust it? What if that virus isn't what made it attack? Maybe we should be more careful."

"I understand your dismay, but I assure you, there's nothing to be worried about. Its quintessence is pure." Coran replies with a chipper smile.

"It has quintessence?" pipes Keith.

"Of course it does. From what I've gathered, this robot has been around for quite a while, and Earthlings seem very attached to it from Pidge's reaction. When something is built, some of the creator's quintessence is transferred to the creation, reproducing as time goes by; and because it was a team of people, the different quintessential signatures sort of… _merged_ … to form its own. Its artificial intelligence is now sentient."

"Holy crow. So that means… that poor little robot must've been so lonely up there all alone." Lance realizes to his horror. Then his face changes to a look of determination, "We need to do something about this! There's no way we're letting Curiosity go back there alone."

"Lance, it's a robot." Keith points out.

"Yeah, an apparently _sentient_ robot that has been singing ' _happy birthday'_ to itself for years!" Lance looks on the verge of theatrical tears now.

"Lance is right. It's a paladin's job to spread peace and diplomacy to all. _Including_ sentient robots." Allura reminds. Everyone seems to collectively agree.

"But won't they know that their multi- _billion_ dollar robot is missing?" Shiro points out.

"I'm not saying we should _kidnap_ curiosity, but maybe, like, build it a friend or something." Lance remarks offhandedly. A pause follows.

"That's actually not a bad idea, Lance." says Keith, impressed.

"Really? Thanks, Keith."

"Guys, I hate to be the voice of reason, always, but we don't have enough parts for that." Hunk reluctantly points out.

"Yes we do!" says Pidge enthusiastically, turning her head. She gets up and runs over to them, her expression turning sheepish. "I've been _sort of_ taking apart certain appliances around the castle, _don't worry!_ Nothing essential, for parts to make an improved version of Rover, but I suppose that's kind of what this is, so you can have them."

"Wait, you've been _what_? Which appliances are we talking about?" asks Coran. Pidge just half-smirks.

"I think you'll find out soon enough."

"Good. So start building that robot as soon as you can in case we get any distress calls from other planets." says Shiro.

"On it!" Hunk's face lights up as he follows Pidge to the remains of the Galra pyramid robot. Curiosity chirps happily from behind, apparently having heard and processed the entire conversation.

* * *

In the span of four days, the robot is finished and operational. Allura found a way to harness the previous Rover's quintessence from the remains and put it on a flash drive of sorts for them. All that was left to do was turn it on, and see if it was compatible with Curiosity.

When Opportunity (that's what the team named the robot, after a previous Mars rover) is powered up for the first time, Curiosity turns one of its cameras and all three antennae towards Opportunity. The team waits in silence.

For a long while, the two robots just stay like that, facing the other. Coran checks various times that they're both still powered up and functional. Pidge and Hunk start to get nervous at the fact that they might've missed something. Lance was just hoping against hope that Curiosity would finally have a friend to let it know that it was doing okay. Shiro and Keith were just pondering over what was definitely one of the strangest scenes they had witnessed. Allura meanwhile, stood patiently, watching, knowing that though they weren't made by the same people, their quintessential bond should be strong enough.

Then both robots made a similar beeping sound. Then another. And following that, the code translator notified them that Curiosity was trying to communicate:

" _It is functional and quite humorous. Thank you all eternally. I am forever in debt to you"_

And thus, the team celebrated, high-fives were exchanged, and the course to return the two sentient machines to Mars was set.

"Oh! One more thing," Pidge added, turning to Curiosity. "I programmed Opportunity to sing a harmony to your birthday song with Lance's help. So thank him when it comes around again."

More thank yous were given by both robots and team Voltron was back on the ship before the next sol was done. Opportunity would be helping Curiosity with the samples taken and was programmed to hide whenever the humans were around. Who knows what aneurysm they would have if they noticed that not only was their robot not stolen, but another, more advanced one was present. The paladins watched Curiosity and Opportunity settle in their home of sand as the Castle of Lions left the surface of Mars.

As the castle was put into orbit, Allura turned to address the paladins.

"I have been thinking about this since the castle received the location of the distress call." They were watching her now, their full attention in her hands. "There is a planet that we must go to in the vicinity that addresses a very serious issue." a smile tugs at the corner of her lips.

"Yeah? What's the issue?" asks Keith.

"Well, it concerns your general welfare. We can't be defending the universe with unhealthy paladins now, can we?" chirps Coran.

"Are the lions alright?" asks Shiro.

"Have we contracted a disease?" asks Pidge.

"Has our food been contaminated?" asks Hunk.

"Is it the Galra?" asks Keith.

"Is it because of Kaltenecker?" asks Lance nervously.

"Oh no, none of that. It mostly concerns your mental state." Allura says, waving her hands in dismissal. She knows it would've been too cruel to be _this close_ and not grant them this.

"Okay, so where are we going?"

Allura and Coran share an excited smile. "Earth."

* * *

 **A/N: *cue me cutting a cake and blowing a kiss to space* Happy Birthday, Curiosity; you're doing a great job and you have terrestrial supporters.**

 **Also, I'm sure that Mars would've been colonized in the setting of VLD considering they've made it to Kerberos, but for the sake of plot, it isn't.**

 **Thanks for giving the story a read! Any comments you may have are greatly** **appreciated.**

 **Until next time!**

 **rainbowrider1290**


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